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Lesson 6 of 9
  • Year 10

Darkroom processes: using an enlarger and developing a print

I understand how to develop a contact sheet and a print in a darkroom using an enlarger.

Lesson 6 of 9
New
New
  • Year 10

Darkroom processes: using an enlarger and developing a print

I understand how to develop a contact sheet and a print in a darkroom using an enlarger.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. In film photography, darkrooms are used to develop pictures that are taken on a physical roll of film.
  2. Photographs are produced using light-sensitive paper that is exposed to light that passes through the negative.
  3. Chemicals are then used to develop the image.
  4. Contact sheets can be used to easily see all of the pictures on a roll of film.
  5. Test strips are used to measure how much exposure each picture should have.

Keywords

  • Darkroom - a room for developing photographs, in which normal light is excluded

  • Enlarger - device used to project an image from a negative onto light-sensitive paper

  • Exposure - act of allowing light to reach photographic paper during printing

  • Develop - process of combining exposed prints with chemicals to produce an image

Common misconception

The safelight allows any kind of light to be on in the darkroom without damaging prints.

The safelight is not a “free pass” for unlimited light exposure and that all light exposure must be controlled and time-sensitive.


To help you plan your year 10 art and design lesson on: Darkroom processes: using an enlarger and developing a print, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

When teaching the process of making test strips, emphasise that this step is not just a formality, it’s a critical tool for quality control.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Darkroom equipment.

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
Motion in photography refers to the way movement is made by ...

Correct answer: subject.
shutter.
light.
Correct answer: camera.

Q2.
Eadweard Muybridge, originally from England but working in the United States, became famous for his photographic sequences of ...

humans and animals in water.
humans and animals in stillness.
Correct answer: humans and animals in motion.

Q3.
Chronophotography is ...

Correct answer: layered multiple phases of movement into a single image.
layered a single movement into a one image.
layered multiple phases of movement into a multiple images.

Q4.
In Japan, the concept of motion in visual culture occurred well after it arrived in Europe during the mid-19th century.

True
Correct answer: False

Q5.
Freezing motion means to capture a moving subject in crisp detail. Match these related concepts.

Correct Answer:How,Use a fast shutter speed (e.g. 1/1000 sec or faster).

Use a fast shutter speed (e.g. 1/1000 sec or faster).

Correct Answer:Common in,sports, wildlife, action shots

sports, wildlife, action shots

Correct Answer:Example,a dancer caught mid-leap with every detail sharply defined

a dancer caught mid-leap with every detail sharply defined

Q6.
Match these key settings that affect motion capture.

Correct Answer:shutter speed,slower = more blur, faster = more freeze

slower = more blur, faster = more freeze

Correct Answer:aperture,indirect role; helps control light when adjusting shutter speed

indirect role; helps control light when adjusting shutter speed

Correct Answer:ISO,higher can compensate for faster shutter in low light

higher can compensate for faster shutter in low light